eddielee

Does anyone know what the resistance across the solenoid coil should be? I have the starter out and it reads 1 OHM of resistance from the solenoid stud to the housing. Cleaned up the contacts and Re-assembled the starter seems to work fine now. time to replace the fuse and see what happens... edit for Elaboration

Thank you TFaro for the LarryB's link. I see the solenoid coil which I think may be the ultimate culprit with a short. Thank everyone for their knowledge on this situation.

Here are the brushes: http://www.ebay.com/itm/STARTER-BRUSH-REPAIR-KIT-DODGE-RAM-PICKUP-DIESEL-5-9L-/370862926929 Is there a better place than Ebay to get these parts? I am thinking the contacts and the brushes above rather than the whoe thing because the rest of it looked great. Will look at the brushes and solenoid tomorrow again to determine what is necessary. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DODGE-DIESEL-RAM-W-CUMMINS-HEAVY-DUTY-UPGRADED-STARTER-CONTACT-REPAIR-KIT-/171120890786

Found this writeup on another forum that shows what I am talking about. http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/showthread.php?t=141395 The engine start wire stud is what I am talking about turning when tightening, maybe it is not too bad. Seems like it is a little too loose, not sure it can be fixed right though. I see the square stud is to the battery cable.

I had it apart the other day and the contacts were a little pitted just not too bad. the lug that comes out of the starter solenoid to the wire did turn and that concerned me. I am looking for a rebuild kit for it. hard to tell if the one I have found is right or not, and if all the parts I want are there. http://www.ebay.com/itm/starter-repair-kit-Dodge-Ram-Pickup-5-9L-Diesel-94-02-/310713189295 Looks to me like all the parts needed are there, however, if memory serves me correctly, the bolt on the lug is connected to the lug inside the solenoid. What you think about this one? Is there a lug in there or do I need to think more about it and take it apart tomorrow to be sure. I am thinking that I can tighten up the lug on the solenoid and see if it continues to turn..

So the 30A ignition fuse keeps blowing, thinking it is the starter solenoid. I would like to know what all is energized and should be tested for a short when the key is in the crank position. The fuse blows when cranking the engine, or attempting to crank the engine. The starter does not always hit when I try and crank the engine, even with a jump wire... The lug on the solenoid to the starter relay seems to be loose and turns when I tighten the nut so I think this is a high probability. Just need to know what else to check when I am in there tomorrow. Thanks for the help! ED punctuation...

Somehow I missed the 30A fuse or it blew after everything started, may have been connected just enough that the tester found continuity and blew fully later. I found it this morning and replaced it all works for the moment. Thank Everyone for their input, glad it is not something worse for the moment.

Is there a decent list of part numbers somewhere? I am looking for the wheel seal and am confused as to which one to get no matter where I look. These statements make me question what I am looking for... Rear; 9.25" R.G.; Exc. H/D Axle & Rear; 13" X 2.5" Brakes I think I want the 13" x 2.5" Brakes one, however, there are also ones listed as inner and others do not say outer.

Weird thing is the windows and heater aren't working either. I tried to install a push button temporarily and it didn't work either, may be the solenoid and it just worked after re-installing the starter. Will have to dig more tomorrow when it is light out... This one is rather weird, never experienced anything like this on any other vehicle. I was thinking ignition side, but with the airbag and abs lights being on and the odometer, speedometer, heater and windows not working it is rather weird. I did notice that the positive battery cable has been replaced with an aftermarket clamp and cable, the small wire coming off of it has seemingly burned up a bit and is not capable of carrying the current required by the main box in the engine compartment. Whoever replaced it trimmed the excess off of the wire going to the main fuse panel and connected it to the small wire. I think the first thing to do is to repair the wire to the main fuse box and clean up the connections better on both batteries. Still weird how the few things that don't work all stopped working at the same time, it would seem like more would die if it was the wire...

Ok so today at the park the truck didn't start. checked codes, found no codes, checked fuses all were good. swapped starter solenoid no change. Took the starter out, cleaned contacts reassembled, no change. Jumped from the battery to the solenoid and the truck cranked, fires right up... Now the airbag $ ABS lights are on and the Speedometer nor the odometer are working, however the fuel mileage went down a bit. Will check and see if the trip miles change on the drive, I suspect not. Truck drives fine. Still wonder what is wrong? Any ideas?

Ok, so when I took my drum off the inside was wet with oil, I already replaced the wheel cylinder and am sure this is not the cause. So it is the wheel seal. I have been looking for a write-up on replacement of the wheel seal and cannot find it. I would appreciate any help, link or description of the process. As for the cable it appears from what Wrench Thrower said about one cable pulling the other that mine should not be crimped in the guide behind the connector. I will release the pressure and see if that helps on the parking brake being set.

This setup would mean that the drivers side would not actuate and only the passenger side will. If you look at the pic you posted m1973man the passenger side cable is the only one that has clean cable showing. Is this a flaw in the design? I wonder if there is a way to fix it. so they will both actuate...

Also how do you know the wheel base 134.7" or 138.7"?

So I am attempting to get my parking brake to work and it seems like it is assembled wrong. It is a 2500 with a cummins, but the engine shouldn't matter. This is the splice for the front to the right rear cable this is the adjuster which seems to be wrong, I cannot see how ti can work this way. here is why I cannot see it work, it is attached to the right rear cable housing and seems to have no action... So it seems to me that the adjuster should be attached to the splice rather than to the cable housing, however, I am unsure as to what it really should look like. I would appreciate a pic of a good working cable and adjuster from a 2500. Thank you, ED

Would it not be recommended to pull the negative cable while the key is in the run position to clear CMOS? This is what I would do to a computer, pull the plug after a fresh boot. Doing this would cause all power to be dissipated from the computer and force a complete reboot unless it has an internal battery for memory.

x2 I find a lot of times that what is seen and not continuous is often misleading. An O-ring is maybe $5 and would be my first choice. Pump should leak all the time of bad and you would loose more coolant if not all. as M1973M said be sure to clean both surfaces well and always use some kind of lubricant to seal the o-ring as CT said vaseline works well. a spot of engine oil would work also, Vaseline is preferred for its thickness

I believe I would say the difference would be the electrical vs. mechanical gauges. The edge will use an electric sender, and you have a choice between mechanical or electric readings if you install both. the sender that is used I would be sure to research if installing Edge. I am not familiar with the edge so I cannot recommend either over the other. mechanical gauges have less to go wrong and are very basic. the pyro and oil pressure are generally preferred in mechanical. If you get a mechanical oil gauge think about getting enough 1/8 th in copper line for the install as they are heat resistant and do not get brittle like the plastic. Also you can buy enough to route it the way you wish. other than that I believe it is preference, the Edge reader should be just as accurate as another, and more accurate than a cheap set of gauges.

Don't cut it and you can put the broom back together... I have used this trick many times on many engines with moms broom or mine...

Use a broom stick or something as Infidel suggested! It will allow you to isolate the area and often the exact cause of the noises you hear. The louder it gets the closer you are. Put the end on the IP and the turbo the head and the block in different spots. often valves make this noise as they close and injection pumps are known for this as well (at least on VW tdis they are not working if they don't) I do not want to mention anything else that could make a clicking sound as I would not want to jinx anything. The broom stick that is made of wood is the best choice I have for an inexpensive stethoscope. likely have one on your kitchen broom or mop.

Ask me how I know this... You drop too a low gear by downshifting manually, you will go sideways when driving on a slippery road! I fan see this if you are in a turn, however, I have done this more than once in ice when sliding on a straight away and it will point you straight again. Once all wheels break loose and you slow down the rear ones it always works. Pulling a trailer in a turn I could especially see going sideways but never the trailer, but never on a straight away have I experienced loosing traction and going sideways. Not sure what the conditions you were driving in were, but I am curious. I do have a manual and am not familiar with how the PCM interacts with an automatic trans. I have only ever owned two front wheel drive vehicles and those are guaranteed to go sideways on a slick road, if not turn completely around, when you down shift.

I have always used the shifter and just manually shifted as needed. As long as you are not going too fast for that gear all is good. I always down shifted in my '75 Nova when going down hill or when more power was needed. AGAIN only if RPM's are valid for that gear. If you have an OD button on that trans use it to kick out of OD and if Towing a large load OD should not be used. It will not hurt your engine as long as you do not redline and the tranny should not be damaged so long as you do not drop too many gears! Dropping too many gears will put too much force on the trans belts and they could snap. I found this tactic of down shifting especially useful when driving in snow and ice and the car started to spin or slide. Real rear drive is awesome in this situation, DO NOT TRY IN FRONT WHEEL DRIVE!! you will spin around backwards!! ALSO DO NOT USE IF PULLING A TRAILER, YOU WILL JACK KNIFE!!! If you have electric trailer brakes you can use them to straighten the rig through the control unit in the snow...

After installing an aftermarket oil pressure gauge I have found much comfort in the check gauge light and 0 psi oil pressure shown to be a non issue. So Glad I did it, the stock oil switch has been intermittent. I used the port on top of the oil pump because it is so much easier to get to. next is getting a copper line for it so I can be confident the plastic one does not melt or break! Thanks again for the quick responses on this forum it is so great to have such a community! ED

Awesome THANK YOU! I appreciate the quick informative response.

looking for specific placement for after market gauge can you install on the top of the oil filter by turbo feed line or do you need to use the left side plug midway on the block?

hmm, guess that is why it was not mentioned and I could not find them in the FSM. So much to learn about this truck!!